The act of nail polishing typically requires removing the worn residue of previous polishing sessions with a solvent such as acetone, followed by the careful application of one or more layers of nail polish on each nail using an applicator. The applicator, which may be a brush or sponge, is usually stowed inside a bottle of nail polish, with the bottle's cap doubling as a handle for the applicator. Nail polish bottles are generally small and light, and thus easily upset. This makes nail polishing a potentially messy business, requiring attention not only while painting the nails, but also while extracting the polish from the bottle: the bottle must generally be held in one hand (the one whose nails are being polished) while the applicator is dipped with the other hand. The bottle then has to be left open on some surface while the nails are polished, with great potential for spills. This limits the circumstances under which people can polish their nails: they must do so only where they have access to a flat surface, in an area where nobody is likely to upset the bottle by accident.
Some previous inventions have attempted to alleviate matters by providing means to grip the nail polish bottle during the polish application, keeping it under control of the polisher and making extraction of more polish easier. However, most of these approaches require the hand whose nails are to be polished to hold up the bottle or grip it in some way, which can be uncomfortable and puts unnecessary demands on the polisher's coordination. Others provide a mat or similar object that holds the bottle securely; these devices work well but are not portable enough to suit most peoples' needs.
Therefore, there remains a need for a portable, convenient, and comfortable nail polishing station.